United Auto Workers Local 1268 rally inside the Belvidere Assembly Plant on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023, to support fellow workers on strike and to demand a product be brought to Belvidere. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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BELVIDERE  — Local autoworkers rallied inside and out of the Belvidere Assembly Plant on Friday to demand for Stellantis to bring a product here and to show solidarity with their counterparts on strike across the country.

United Auto Workers have held coordinated strikes at GM, Ford and Stellantis plants across the country since Sept. 15, and the future of the Belvidere plant has been wrapped up in contract negotiations.

UAW Local 1268 members and supporters dressed in red shirts that read “We are Belvidere” on the back rallied through the rain on the steps of the assembly plant. They then packed inside of a front lobby where union members as well as state, local and federal elected officials continued their calls for higher wages and for Stellantis to bring vehicle production back to Belvidere.

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“This is what solidarity is. When we come together this is what happens,” Niki Cruz said of the turnout.

Cruz, who has more than 29 years with the UAW and has been Belvidere since 2009, said her husband relocated to Toledo four years ago to continue working for the company. Now, workers in Toledo are among those on strike.

“It’s a really sad situation because this breaks up family and homes,” Cruz said. “This is my home plant, and this is where I want to finish up.”

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The rally in Belvidere began shortly after UAW President Shawn Fain concluded his Facebook Live address, where he said significant progress had been made with the Big Three automakers. Many workers here huddled under umbrellas and listened to the address on their phones before the local rally began.

“Our strike is working, but we’re not there yet,” Fain said on Facebook while wearing a T-shirt that read “eat the rich.” “Everything we’ve done to this point has been with one goal in mind: to win a record contract that reflects the Big Three’s record profits, and the historic sacrifices our members have made to generate those profits.”

Along with the workers were state Reps. Dave Vella and Maurice West, state Sen. Steve Stadelman, Belvidere Mayor Clinton Morris and Congressmen Eric Sorensen and Bill Foster, who represents the 11th District where the plant is located.

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The Belvidere Assembly Plant was idled at the end of February, leaving many workers stuck in a state of uncertainty.

“It’s been stressful, trying to figure out what they’re trying to do to us,” said Robert DuBoise, a 61-year-old electrician who has worked at the plant for 25 years. “I don’t want to move. This is where I started, and this is where I’m going to end.”

Brandon Campbell, UAW region 4 director, speaks to fellow autoworkers on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023, during a rally at the Belvidere Assembly Plant. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

Workers here have traveled to Toledo, Naperville and Milwaukee to walk the picket lines with those on strike. Friday’s rally, in part, was a way to send a message of thanks from workers at the idled plant to those on strike.

The Belvidere Assembly Plant had as many as 6,000 workers at one time. There were about 1,350 laid off when the plant was idled in February.

“They talk about the 1,200 jobs that were lost here, they don’t talk about the 3,000 before that,” said Brandon Campbell, director of UAW region 4. “They don’t talk about the workers at all of the supplier plants, they don’t talk about the janitors, they don’t talk about the people who build bumpers, they don’t talk about that.

“They don’t talk about the thousands of families that were ripped apart because of their greed. They don’t talk about the lives that were absolutely shattered.”

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Campbell formerly worked in Belvidere, where his father worked before him. His daughter worked here, too, until she was forced to relocate. In an impassioned speech to workers rallying Friday, he said the plant closure was a result of corporate greed.

“We should not have to deal with plant closings in the richest country in the history of the world,” he said. “Over the last four years, Big Three profits went up 65%, but our wages and our purchasing power is down. We aren’t the problem. Corporate greed is the problem.”

United Auto Workers Local 1268, with several others still inside the building, pose for a photo on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023, during a rally at the Belvidere Assembly Plant. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

Campbell said that the salary Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares earns would take a 30-year employee 375 years to earn.

“It would take somebody hired in 2008 700 years to make that amount,” Campbell said. “But hey, good news, their generous offer that they put on the table would take a new hire only 600 years.”

Belvidere workers have emphasize that the plant deserves a product because of the high-ranking quality of its work, which has been among the best in the country.

“This workforce is second to none, so Carlos, build it here in Belvidere,” Campbell said.

Tavares previously said the Belvidere Assembly Plant could reopen depending on the outcome of union negotiations and the success of the company’s electric vehicle rollout in the United States. But what could come to Belvidere has been uncertain, with possibilities ranging from EV production to a parts distribution center.

Matt Frantzen, president of UAW Local 1268, said the photo of members on the steps of the assembly plant would be going to Stellantis executives to send a message:

“We showed up for work,” he said. “Where’s our product?”

United Auto Workers Local 1268 filter into the Belvidere Assembly Plant front lobby on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023, as rain falls outside the plant. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas